A group of French activists sued the labeling inside. Our Lady of Paris what they complain about translated into english only and no other foreign language.
This activist association, which has won a similar legal battle against the administrators of the Eiffel Tower in the past, believes that not including other foreign languages leads to ever-increasing global dominance of the English language.
The legal action was filed in a Paris court on Monday, the day of the so-called Journée internationale de la Francophonie (International Francophonie Day), said Louis Maisonneuve, a spokesman for the organization Défense de la langue française (Defence of the French Language). ).
Although the organization as a whole opposes the use of English words and terms in French documents, signs and advertisements, its members complain, among other things, that signage at Notre Dame violates a 1994 ruling that signs and information on all public buildings must translated into at least two languages.
“The law protects the French language because it promotes linguistic pluralism,” Maisonneuve told the French news agency.
OUR Toubon’s law (then Minister of Culture) 1994 requires the use of French in official government publications, in all advertisements, in workplaces, in commercial contracts and in all public schools. In the context of promoting multilingualism, mandatory “double translation” is introduced on signs in public places, but not the translation of official documents into two languages. In addition, it provides for the mandatory use of French in all television programs, which means that all programs in foreign languages are dubbed, and the programs of radio stations must consist of 40% French music.
In their appeal, they cite Jean-Louis Zorzelin, who was appointed by the Ministry of Culture to oversee the restoration work of the historic cathedral destroyed by fire in 2019, who stated that signs explaining the repair procedures are only available in French and English.
As Maisonneuve notes, last November the group managed to convince the Parisian municipality to add a Spanish translation of the signs on the Eiffel Tower. “We threatened to sue them. It took us a year … in the end they changed all the signs to Spanish,” he said.
In addition, the organization has protested to 20 other public institutions for using English, including the national post offices for their financial services and their advertising called “Ma French Bank” (instead of Ma banque française), Sorbonne for the name of the business school on its web site. website and Charles de Gaulle for its bilingual signs in French and English.
Source: Guardian
Source: Kathimerini
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